Rebuilding Britain eBook

[Footnote 6: This chapter is intended to refer
to what may be regarded as normal conditions.
In some cases the recent rise in wages has been excessive.
The present position is chaotic, and the ill-advised
manner in which the 12-1/2 per cent. advance was made
has added to labour troubles and will cause great
difficulty in the future.]

D.—­RELIGIOUS PEACE

CHAPTER XIII

This is not the place to discuss the merits or demerits
of any theological views or of any system of Church
government, but the question of the influence of religion
on the life of the State and the way in which and
conditions under which it can be rightly exercised
cannot be overlooked. There is no doubt whatever
that religious influence might be a most potent and
useful factor in Reconstruction, using the word in
the broadest sense. There are some branches of
work in which no other known influence can effect
what is required. Leaving aside for the moment
the fact that there are needs of humanity which religion
alone can satisfy, and looking only to social improvement,
the power of religion has been proved again and again,
especially in dealing with the cases that seem most
difficult and almost hopeless. In India, for
example, there are certain debased tribes which are
habitually criminal, and have, in fact, by tradition
devoted themselves to the commission of crime.
The only agency which has been able to effect a reclamation
and improvement of these tribes is the Salvation Army,
which, by general consent, even of those who have no
sympathy with its particular religious views, has
achieved wonderful results. There is no doubt,
too, that some of the worst parts of certain seaports
in our own country have been vastly improved by the
same agency. This has been done by a definite
appeal made on religious grounds, and those who have
made it have been inspired by religious motives.
It required, however, a body which had peculiar methods
of its own to do it. The basis of the action,
also, of such organisations as the Church Army and
the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian
Associations is definitely religious, and the vigorous
and successful way in which their work has been carried
on by such associations is due mainly to the influence
of religion. It would be well for our present
purpose to treat the question from a position, whether
real or assumed, of absolute detachment from any particular
religious belief, and from any special religious community.
Looked at even from such a detached position, it appears
that the first condition required to enable religious
influence to be effectively exercised is to secure
religious peace. It is impossible to deny that